Trailer for The Weight of the Nation

Originally seen on HBO in May 2012, "The Great Cafeteria Takeover" follows a group of New Orleans kids, who dubbed themselves the Rethinkers, as they make a difference in their community during the post-Katrina rebuilding period by transforming their school lunch menu with healthier, better-tasting options. The special received a Primetime Emmy® nomination in the category of Outstanding Children's Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program.

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"Kebreeya's Salad Days" follows 17-year-old Kebreeya's crusade to improve nutrition awareness on a personal, family and community level in her North Carolina town. After her mom's gastric-bypass surgery, and seeing relatives with asthma and diabetes, Kebreeya changes her diet to exclude fast food and soda, and tries to get her family to follow suit. Though not completely converted to "Kebreeya food" yet, her mother has been inspired by her daughter's efforts and is choosing her food more wisely.

Kebreeya maintains a garden at an elementary school and encourages others to do the same via the student group SWARM (Students Working for an Agricultural Revolutionary Movement). She also solicits lunch menu suggestions from other students and submits them to school officials, proposing a salad bar for their high-school cafeteria. Kebreeya first takes the idea to school-board officials and then to the town's city council and mayor, and shows how kids can make a difference in creating healthier school nutrition environments.

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"Quiz Ed!" tests the nutrition and physical activity knowledge of students of varying ages and activity levels to inspire them to take action, revealing that there are steps kids can take toward a healthier lifestyle, for instance, choosing foods with less sugar, as well as not skipping meals. The special also spotlights kids' concerns about their level of physical activity. Kassidy hated physical education class until she met Coach Joe, who explained the benefits of strength training. Likewise, Gunther describes how difficult but important it was to cut back on video games in favor of more real-life sports, saying, "I've realized that after a while I'm like, 'Hey, I'm so lazy. I don't do anything. I pant like crazy whenever I do anything with my friends involving exercise' ...It's been hard, honestly." Meanwhile, team sports-averse Thomas discovers a love for martial arts. Answering tricky trivia questions, the kids of "Quiz Ed!" show how much they already know about keeping fit.